The two sides “held vice-ministerial level talks” today, and have “held several rounds of talks in recent weeks,” Bloomberg reports.

“We expect there will be meetings in January,” Mnuchin said. Chinese officials also confirmed that is the plan.

“China understands that these are separate tracks,” he added, referring to the Meng Wanzhou arrest that Trump tied to the trade war last week.

“We are determined that if we have an agreement [by March 1] it will be specific enough that time frames and details and everything else will be laid out,” Mnuchin emphasized, addressing a common worry in Washington that Beijing is happy to overpromise and underdeliver on economic reforms.

In other trade war news:

Another shipment of American soybeans has been bought by China, Reuters reports, taking the total up to “about 3 million tonnes” since the trade war ceasefire on December 1.

But an analyst said this was far short of expectations: “The expectation coming out the Argentina meeting was 10 to 12 million tonnes.”

The two countries traded barbs at the World Trade Organization (again). Also per Reuters:

“The crisis is caused by the fundamental incompatibility of China’s trade-distorting, non-market economic regime with an open, transparent and predictable international trading system,” U.S. Ambassador Dennis Shea argued in a closed-door session.

“China absolutely refuses to be the scapegoat and excuse for unilateralism and protectionism,” and “reckless actions” by the Trump administration were instead the cause of the trade war, a Chinese ministry of commerce official responded.

The EU apparently agrees with China, and Shea objected to European officials’ use of the word “epicentre” to describe Washington when talking about the trade war.

More links related to the U.S.-China trade war and its global effects:

Germany becoming more cautious on ChinaGermany Tightens Foreign Investment Rules With Eye on China / Bloomberg (porous paywall)
“Germany tightened its grip on investment by companies from outside the European Union, lowering the threshold [to 10 percent] for government probes of stakes in German businesses considered ‘critical infrastructure.’”German security office warned German firms about Chinese hacking: report / Reuters
“Germany’s Office for Information Security (BSI) has issued warnings to several German firms named by the United States as possible victims of hacking attacks, a newspaper [the Sueddeutsche Zeitung] reported, adding that Chinese activity against German firms had increased.”

Tariffs exemptionsUber Asks for Chinese Tariff Exclusion as It Cranks Out E-Bikes / Bloomberg (porous paywall)
“Uber Technologies Inc., which is producing a new generation of its electric bikes in China by the thousands [nearly 1,000 per day, it claims], has asked the U.S. government for an exclusion from new tariffs on Chinese imports.”

Businesses expanding in ChinaUnder Siege in the U.S., Toy Stores Find New Life in China / Bloomberg (porous paywall)
“China will be world’s largest toy-and-game market by 2022…Toys ‘R’ Us outlets are closed in the U.S., but the brand’s stores are still a popular destination for Shanghai resident Pan Wei.”

Lucas Niewenhuis is an associate editor at SupChina who helps curate daily news and produce the company's newsletter, app, and website content. Previously, Lucas researched China-Africa relations at the Social Science Research Council and interned at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York. He has studied Chinese language and culture in Shanghai and Beijing, and is a graduate of the University of Michigan.

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